- Hardcover: 216 pages
- Publisher: Taschen (Nov 1 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 3822872156
- ISBN-13: 978-3822872154
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 544 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Though full of subconscious upwellings and startling conjunctions of seemingly unrelated objects, Rene Magritte's paintings are not dreamscapes, according to French art critic Meuris. With every painting, the Belgian surrealist, whose work is "governed by 'thought,' " challenges his viewer's intellect and assumptions about reality. Observes Meuris in Magrittian fashion: "Magritte is not a painter, while yet being a great painter." While the paradox of the paintings of burning tubas remains largely unsolved, other images are successfully unraveled and the heavy French intellectual baggage one might expect is avoided. Meuris also looks at Magritte's little-known photographs, short films, sculptures and surreal objects in this illuminating, delightfully illustrated volume that reaffirms the artist's stature as it traces the fine line he toes between reality and illusion.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"I don't believe in the unconscious, except when we are asleep." Magritte.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
I like the pictures,
By Keith Whitener (Handsome Ville, USA__Population: Me) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Magritte (Hardcover)
This is an excellent book about prolific Belgian Surrealist Rene Magritte and contains over 400 illustrations spanning his entire career, a biography, and explanations of themes and imagery. I looked around for a good book on Magritte and this is the best one I could find. It contains his most famous paintings: man with apple in front of face, it's raining men in bowler hats, giant stone chair with regular smaller chair on top of it, there's no space in this room because there's a giant apple in it, etcetera. I like to sit and look at the pictures and then think about what they mean. Unfortunately, this collection does not have the one where the man's head is a giant orange. If you are interested in Magritte and would like to find out more, go to the Magritte website and order the Mystery of Magritte interactive CD-Rom. That is an excellent with lots of neat stuff. There are excellent explanations of what his work meant, many pictures, Magritte's own voice and footage of him, detailed biography, and much more.
2.0 out of 5 stars
More large (good quality) pictures would have been better,
By
This review is from: Magritte (Paperback)
In my opinion, the most important thing about a book about a pictorial artist is always the actual pictures shown(including the quality of the reproductions), and I feel in this respect this book falls rather flat. Not only are there not enough large (full or half page) pictures for a book of this size (216 pages) - some of them are poor quality reproductions (a painfully common feature of art books) - why do paintings vary so much between different reproductions?Instead the book is mainly concerned with waffle. And lots of it. I'm not saying I didn't find any of it interesting, but the information and insight I gleaned after 8 hours of reading could have been put over with half as much text. Whilst I expect some degree of 'intellectual' depth, I still felt the writing was overly stodgy and difficult to read, but more because the sentences were often badly phrased than because of their intellectual vigour. Incidentally, Magritte by Richard Calvocoressi (Phaidon - April 1993) is much shorter but has much better pictures in it.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews) 22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely amazing,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Magritte (Hardcover)
This book on Margritte includes fabulous images and great explanations and references to Magritte's life. I purchased this book in Dutch in Europe, for about four times the price listed here. This is an absolute bargain, and I sincerely regret not having purchased it from Amazon, although I greatly enjoyed having purchased it overall. Any Magritte fan cannot miss this book! Enjoy.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
More large (good quality) pictures would have been better,
By Jenny Gilford - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Magritte (Paperback)
In my opinion, the most important thing about a book about a pictorial artist is (usually) the actual pictures shown(including the quality of the reproductions), and I feel in this respect this book falls rather flat. Not only are there not enough large (full or half page) pictures for a book of this size (216 pages) - some of them are poor quality reproductions (a painfully common feature of art books) - why do paintings vary so much between different reproductions?Instead the book is mainly concerned with excessively wordy discourses on Magritte and his work. I'm not saying I didn't find any of it interesting, but the information and insight I gleaned after 8 hours of reading could have been put over with half as much text. I don't have a problem with writers indulging in intellectual analysis, so long as it is concise and well written, and this wasn't always the case. Incidentally, Magritte by Richard Calvocoressi (Phaidon - April 1993) is much shorter but has much better pictures in it. (review altered 27 May 2005, partly to remove British slang words that may have caused confusion) 14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
More for your money,
By "xboingox" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Magritte (Hardcover)
As the description above states, this book contains 400 illustrations covering Magritte's entire career. I found that after reading "The Essential Magritte," this was a perfect continuation in my introduction to this man's work. The price is also unbeatable, considering what some art books go for these days. Well written and illustrated, this book was a wonderful find.
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